What’s your PB?

If you’re into football, June would have been a great month with the European championships. If you’re into tennis, 2 weeks of Wimbledon will be bliss. If you’re into cricket – the whole summer lies ahead. If you’re into athletics, swimming, sailing and a host of other sports, the Olympics beckons. What more could you want? But if you’re not into sport? Hope for something decent on the other TV channel? Or for good weather to be in the garden?

I do enjoy sport. These days there is increasing pressure in schools and from the medical profession to ensure that we all lead active lives. There is anxiety about obesity, about people who spend too much time in front of a screen – be it TV or computer. Many do play sport or go to the gym, but many, we are told, lead largely sedentary lives. We may know sport and physical activity is good for us, but we just don’t have time – or energy – or motivation – or…?

Sport can, of course, be highly competitive – sometimes too competitive to the extent that the winning is everything: great for the winner, but devastating for the losers. (As an aside, I sometimes wonder if our society has lost a sense of proportion in how much it focuses on winning at all costs – whether in sport or indeed in, for example, the business world or the courts. Drugs, bribery, deception and simply the ‘system’ can appear to rule rather than integrity, justice and genuine skill.) But to return to sport, I want to suggest that the focus should perhaps be more on celebrating people’s PBs – Personal Bests. In Beijing, we’ll hear a lot about ‘PBs’ – and most of those people will be those who lose, perhaps even in round one. They’ll soon be forgotten by the media, but for them it’s something to celebrate, a real achievement after months or years of training. And though I guess we might agree that winning feels more rewarding, I want to suggest that a PB is actually more important. Why?

Because I believe we’re called to be the best that we can be. That will be different for each of us – and may not involve winning anything. Hebrews 12:1 talks about ‘running with perseverance the race that is set before us’. If we call ourselves Christians, we’re called to be in a race – and that’s about being the best that we can be in Christ. There will be PBs on the way – little steps towards our goal – not an Olympic gold, but the goal of loving God and sharing his love with others. We will, like any athlete, need to train to achieve our PB. It won’t necessarily be easy. But a PB is satisfying – ask an athlete. So I invite you to ponder as we are surrounded by sport this summer: what’s your goal as a Christian? And can you improve on your PB?

With my prayers,    Jeanette (Team Vicar)